Jefferies started covering Greek banks. The American investment house reports that Greek banks are not the typical recovery story as many think, however, the momentum of interest income is strong and offers great upside in the short term.
The Greek annual inflation rate fell to 6.5% in February from 7.3% in January, Eurostat said in its flash estimate on inflation trends. In a report released in Brussels, Eurostat said the annual inflation rate in the Eurozone was expected to ease slightly to 8.5% in February from 8.6% in January, reflecting prices increases in food, alcohol and tobacco (15% and 14.1%, respectively), followed by energy (13.7% from 18.9% in January) and non-energy industrial goods (6.8% from 6.7% in January). The consumer price index in the services sector rose 4.8% in February from 4.4% in January.
Latvia (20.1%), Estonia (17.8%) and Lithuania (17.2%) recorded the biggest inflation rates, while Luxembourg (4.8%), Belgium (5.5%), Spain (6.1%) and Greece (6.5%) had the lowest rates.
Greece's obligation to draw up and submit a Medium-Term Program 2024-2027 along with the fiscal rules returns this year. It is essentially a four-year plan with growth and primary surpluses, which should be tabled by the spring as usual, but it is not known how much the date will be affected by the upcoming elections